Adventurers
Each of the four Bittonian Houses has a certain number of members, or people in their employ to perform services for them. NOT THAT KIND. Slaying Evil Princesses, saving beautiful dragons, that kind of thing. Here are their current rosters in all their power and glory. House Farmadr Duchess Astrid Farmadr, 27th in line for the Hexanian Throne, known in polite company as the Compass Rose, for her beauty and association with the sea. In impolite company, the names start at cow, and get worse. Astrid is very young, barely 18, and unmarried. She is an intelligent young woman, with a fair amount of magical power, and the house bows to her. It is unknown how much of this is out of respect to their lady, and how much of it is the absolute deference Cenric has from the members of the house. She struggles constantly to escape her father's shadow, and prove his decision to sacrifice everything for her the right one to make. Wanderer Quen - A Wood Elf from who knows where. He was picked up in a small port city across the Ocean by a ship belonging to House Farmadr. He perdusaded the sailors to let him stay by throwing them overboard till they agreed. Since arriving in Nestoria, he has entered the service of House Farmadr, largely doing odd jobs. It is believed that Astrid is not particularly fond of of Quen, but Cenric insists on keeping him around for some reason. A notorious drunk, he is also known to be a rather good healer, when he sobers up. Eirkyr Valengard - Eirkyr is the man at arms for House Farmadr, a position held by men of his line for years. He is a few years older then Astrid, and came from Hexania with House Farmadr. He served in the Nestorian army for years, until his father stepped down as the man at arms of House Farmadr. Known for being extremely devoted to Lady Astrid, he's broken the nose of a few men he views as having slighted her. Ingvildr - Ingvildr is the daughter of Hi'rezian exile. Her mother was recovered in the oceans surrounding Hexania by one of Cenric's vessels. She was given refuge by Cenric in his household. This was about 4 years prior to Sigrun's reunion with her father. While there, she became pregnant with Ingvildr. The father is still unknown, as is much about the Elven Woman. She died in childbirth, unfortunately, leaving Ingvildr to be raised by House Farmadr. Widely known as Ingvildr the bastard, she is generally treated as a lesser member of House Farmadr, but it varies. She is known as a flighty woman, and a mild coward, but a talented Sorceress for all that. The Guineass Church The Guineass Church is led by Cuthbert Guineass, an extravagently-dressed, slightly excitable young man who has nevertheless carried out an excellent reform of the Church and its public image. So, who is to complain too loudly about jewelry that clanks on the floor, or a slightly unpriestly tendency to toss money around openly? Daiki Goodfellow-Daiki is a soldier of the Goddess's Templars. He was born in the mountainous region of Pixal to a pious, trusting, but somewhat unrestrained woman after a one-night stand with an elf calling himself "Robin Goodfellow." Daiki's mother later found out that that is essentially the elven "John Doe." Still, Daiki has been a dutiful son, and a devout soldier of the Goddess, though his village's religious education was poor. He joined the forces of the Templars when he had the chance, and, shortly thereafter, for reasons as yet unclear to him, was blessed with some measure of the Goddess's favor. That minor blessing was enough to see him sent to help out the schmucks in the Guineass Church. Robin Guineass- Cuthbert's younger brother, and honestly a bit of an airhead. Still, the fellow means well, and is quite good at cheering people up. He does have *some* measure of cleverness and subtlety to him- some of the higher members of this branch of the Goddess's church can recall a few instances where he has gotten Cuthbert to act in unpopular, but morally correct ways. Father Francis Parsons- Francis Parsons is an unsettling man with wild eyes. One of the foremost clergymen of the Guineass Church, and blessed with a good deal of the Goddess's magics, he is perhaps best described as a...highly experimental theologian. He has been known for suggesting bizarre games of hopscotch to ward off injuries whilst tending the fields, referring to some odd 'A button,' and repeating some obvious statement about one's town at least one thousand times each day, and as the first thing said to an outsider to the town, in order to strengthen defenses against invasion. Perhaps the most unsettling thing about that is, that it seems to work. The Ebonwing Clan Orethras Ebonwing - The Master of the Wyrmspire is traditionally, the mightiest dragon within the mountain range. Shamefully, a few centuries ago, a geomantic shift caused most of the ley lines of Wyrmspire to be redirected and left the region much less magical than it used to be, causing those few dragons that were in the range to revert to their dragonkin forms for simple lack of energy to sustain their transformations. Orethras, a mere wyrmling no more than a few decades old, is the only dragon currently within Wyrmspire, and as such is, by default, the Master, his word is law, his will is divine, and his family is running around like headless chickens to keep their society running while his grandmother teaches the boy how to be a proper dragon. It is no easy task, the wyrmling is kindly and rather mellow, and the crone suffers a critical case of grandmotherytis when near him. Erevas Ebonwing - There are not many beings in this world who are older than Erevas Ebonwing, maybe some of the dragons of Del'ci, but certainly no other creatures. In her youth, whenever in the annals of ancient history that was, she was a dragon of great infamy, in her own words she "did it all", raided settlements, waylaid caravans, ate knights and princesses, dissolved armies, brought fear and loathing to all lesser races of Nestoria. But she is retired now. Saine Ebonwing - Saine grew up a harpooner in a coastal village of Wyrmspire ruled by the Ebonwing clan, then became a marine in the realm's corsair fleet serving under Novaras Ebonwing, Orethras' father, a trooper in a number of skirmishes with the navies of other nations of Nestoria. When the young master became the ruler of Wyrmspire, Novaras and all of his crew returned to the capital in order to help run the place, and Saine was assigned as one of Erevas' retainers in Orethras' guard, a position of much prestige. Zoa Ebonwing - Zoa is the canniest kobold of a clutch that was assigned to Erevas' service, and has from birth served as the crone's extra pair of scurrilous little fingers. Zoa's clutchmates were part of the Ebonwing comitive that was in Bittonia during the latest attack, and have been scattered around the countryside during the ensuing chaos. The little scamp misses them, and would like to berate the fools for leaving the mistress' side once they are all gathered again. The Blackcloak Loyalists Hey! Just because the hordes of Ramdrant are currently busy pillaging much of Bittonia at the behest of the Dark Lord, don't go thinking they're all the bad guys! A group formed of refugees, retainers, and friends stands with Rhiannon Blackcloak in a tenuous alliance with their ancestral Bittonian foes against the rise of this mysterious foe. The young Witch-Queen has a lot to learn if she's to rally her people and reclaim her home. Only time will tell if the experiences of the quests to come will leave her ready for that ultimate task. Percival Blackcloak is one of that clan's oldest members, his nearly four hundred years of experience putting him near the end of even a witch's lengthy natural lifespan. While once a feared war-magus, and the bane of many an ill-fated Bittonian warrior, the warlock's power has waned substantially in his twilight years. Unconcerned with the usual jockeying for power that occurs within any clan, Percival's attention has drifted to ensuring that the clan - and Ramdrant itself - are left a strong and well-led domain after his passing. For the past three decades, that has meant tutoring the willful and often acerbic daughter of the reigning Witch-King and Queen. A punishing task, but one Percival feels certain will pay dividends in time... assuming this crisis doesn't kill them all first. The Shadowswarm tribe, for all its infighting, is nothing if not organized. From hatching chamber to recycling chamber, every Carapacian has a duty to fulfill, carefully assigned to serve the needs of the hive as a while. As a royal specimen, Therasia Shadowswarm's duty is a relatively simple one. To live and study in relative comfort, until such time as she reaches maturity and completes the ritual that will begin the production of eggs for the hive, which will continue until her death. But finding herself with a poor head for the social and scholarly pursuits expected of a young Carapacian princess, and feeling an entirely inappropriate (which is to say, more than none at all) amount of apprehension regarding her eventual fate, Therasia jumped at the chance to serve in a more active role, representing her hive at the side of the young Blackcloak heiress. Still acclimating to the dizzying freedom of life outside a hive, Therasia's grasp of Bittonian customs is tenuous at best. But hey, she's a freakishly strong bug-girl who seems to be hard to kill even by carapacian standards. Nobody's going to complain about having her on their side. When the name Bloodmoon is spoken in Ramdrant, one most readily calls to mind the savage and bestial lycan frontiersmen who form the tribe's heart. But there is a place under their crimson sigil for any with a while heart, be they human, beast, or something stranger still - making it one of the most diverse tribes even in a land of great diversity. Lilian Bloodmoon was born of this sense of amalgamation, with blood blended from a weretiger mother and a powerful and influential wood-spirit father. With a keen insight and a natural gift for druidic magic, Lilian seemed destined for a position of power, and a natural choice to offer as a companion to the Drantish princess. Fast friends with Rhiannon, and a tempering influence on the witch's often rash behavior, Lilian is as determined as anyone to feed the Dark Lord to the compost heap.